Statement-sheet or bill.



M. H. AVRAM.` STATEMENT SHEET 0R BILL.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 3, |916.

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THE COLUMBIA PLANUGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. D. c.

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Mos H. Avanti," or NEW YORK, iv. Y.,

STATEMENT-SHEET OR BILL.

Specication of Letters Batent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

Application filed January 3, 19-16. Serial No. 70,018.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, Mois H. AVRAM, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at New York, in the borough `of Manhattan and State of New York, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Statements Sheets or Bills, of which the following is a specification. y

My invention relates to' statement sheets or bills, and is especially adapted for use with gas meters, electric meters, or the like, to furnish to the customer at any time a statement or bill as to the amount of gas, electricity, or the like which has been furnished.

More specifically the invention embodies a statement sheet or bill so formed and printed, that in conjunction with an apparatus suitablefor advancing the same in unison with a meter mechanism of any character, and with means for marking thesame, it may be used to record automatically a quantity measure and the cost of the same' to the customer since the last previous record was taken. v

In the accompanying drawing the figure is a plan view of my improved statement sheet or bill as used in connection with a gas meter. v

In the said drawing, the sheet or bill is shown formed with two rows of round holes 1, the same providing means whereby the sheet may be advanced bymeans of pins in a suitable feed roller connected with the meter mechanism. The space between each of these holes is the distance that the meter will moveY the sheet during the consumption of one hundredcubic feet of gas, and oppositely disposed-holes are joined by transverse lines 2 indicated on one side bythe number of cubic feet of gas and on the other side by the price, the same being reckoned on a basis of ten cents per one hundred cubic feet. Centrally between said holes the spaces are further divided by transverse lines 3 into ten minor spaces thereby to indicate a further subdivision of the'gas into units of ten cubic feet each. To the left of the left longitudinal row of holes l is a space in which is to be indicated the account number 4: of the particular meter, and in practicey this number is to be punctured into the statement or bill in a manner hereinafter to be described. The'statement yor bill is also suitably printed to denote the company controlling the same, and is prothe company when the bill is paid.

vided with va space 5 to receive the vcustomers name and address if desired ;L a space up in a strip separated by transverse linesA of perforations to facilitate tearing the same. In practice twelve of the statements are to be inserted into the meter, thereby providing a supply for oneyear in monthly readings, and the meter is so constructed that whenV the key is inserted into the door or when the door ofthe same is opened, it immediately causes the statement to be punctured to indicate the amount of gas consumed since the door was last opened, these punctures lbeing shown at 12 on the drawing, and indicating 3690 cubic feet. The said means which effects this puncture also punctures the account number 4, the

account number of the statement or bill ony the drawing being 732. It will be under-y stood that two or more of these statements or bills may be punctured at the same time,

the same being in contrasting color if de-y sired, one of which is to be dated and left with the customer as a bill, and the other or others to be returned to the proper oiicials of the company. lBy perforating said statements or bills with the account number of the meter, all danger of mistake in entering the account at the office of the company is obviated.

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By arranging the two rows of holes 1 in f such position as to divide the sheetlongitudinally into three spaces, I not only provide a positive feed for the statement or bill, but also apply said feed in immediate proximity to the markings indicating the amount and price of the commodity, so that the statement or bill is held firmly at this point on both sides of said markings, whereby the perforation to indicate a given amount will be accurately applied without danger of any twisting or rumpling of the paper. Furthermore, by disposing the amount and value designations of the commodity centrally of the statement or r heretofore indicating nothing less than subdivisions of fifty feet.

, Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isil. A meter statement or bill, comprising a vstrip of paper provided with a double longitudinal row of holes dividing said strip longitudinally into three sections, the outer sections having printed thereon matter of any desired character, and the intermediate section being divided transversely, by lines eX- tending between said holes, into spaces indicating units of the amount of the commodity furnished, said spaces being fur- 5 ther subdivided to indicate subdivisional units of the amount of said commodity, and one of said sections being marked to indicate that it is for the reception of a meter number.

2. A meter statement or bill, comprising a strip of paper provided With a double longitudinal row of holes dividing said strip longitudinally into three sections, one outer section having printed thereon a bill statement including the name of the creditor, anda space suitably marked to indicate that it is for the name and address of the debtor, the other outer section having printed thereon a space suitably marked to indicate that it is for the receipting signature, and spaces suitably marked to indicate that they are for the amount of commodity furnished and for the price of the same, one of said outer spaces having a longitudinal subspace adjacent one of the lines of holes marked to indicate that it is for the reception of ameter number and the intermediate section being divided transversely,

by lines extending between said holes, into spaces `indicating units of the amount of commodity furnished, said spaces being further subdivided to indicate subdivisional units of the amount of said commodity.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand this 27 day of December, 1915.

Mois H. AVRAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

